Only action can change our politics beliefs

The issue in our polarized politics is not which party's political policies are more rational, because reason is not the foundation of political policy. Beliefs are the foundation, and reason builds its house on them.

For example, most conservatives believe that abortion is murder because a fetus is born a human being, but using the same reasoning they don't believe a seed is a flower. Progressives begin with the belief that just as a seed is not yet a flower, a human fetus is not yet a human being, so abortion is not murder. Belief, not reason, is the issue.

Some believe that safety and security rest on superior firepower and law enforcement with no exceptions for mitigating circumstances. Others believe that more just policies based on verifiable facts will result in greater safety and security. Still others believe news is fake news if it contradicts their beliefs.

When Hillary referred to Trump supporters as "deplorables," what they heard was that she was calling them irrational and stupid because they did not share her beliefs. Donald Trump knows that news that is not believed has no impact on true believers. That's why he labels verifiable news "fake news" and lies with impunity. The only hope for changing the mind of a true believer is experiential evidence that acting on a particular belief is inhumane.

Tom Driscoll, Poulsbo

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